beijing

A woman wears a mask as she visits the Forbidden City during a sunny day in Beijing Friday. Residents in the Chinese capital are preparing for its second smog red alert as a wave of smog is forecasted to settle over the city

Chinese Paramilitary guards stand on the stairs after Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and UAE’s deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces leaves the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday

Members from North Korea’s Moranbong band walk out of their hotel in Beijing on Friday. North Korea’s premier pop group, the all-girl Moranbong band formed by leader Kim Jong-Un, is electrifying audiences in China

A paramilitary policeman wearing a mask stands guard in front of the giant portrait of Chinese late chairman Mao Zedong, amid heavy smog after the city issued its first ever “red alert” for air pollution in Beijing, China

A combination photo shows a morning commuter walking in front of the China Central Television (CCTV) building on a smoggy day on December 1, 2015 (top), and on a sunny day on December 2, 2015 (bottom), after a fresh cold front cleared the smog that was blanketing Beijing, China.

Chinese man wears a protective face mask as he passes by the CCTV building on a day of heavy pollution on Monday in Beijing, China. China’s capital and many cities in the northern part of the country recorded the worst smog of the year with air quality devices in some areas unable to read such high levels of pollutants

A boy holds the hand of an elderly woman as they make their way in Beijing. The easing of family planning restrictions in China to allow all couples to have two children will benefit around 100 million families, a professor told the official China Daily on Friday.

An honour guard is partially covered by a flag that rolled after a gust of wind at the welcoming ceremony for Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China today.